Breaking In

Chapter 46:

Strong, familiar hands wrapped underneath me and pulled me back from the hideous woman.

"You hurt her! She didn't deserve what you did to her! You evil fucking bitch!" I screamed and thrashed, trying to break free to get back to her. I wasn't finished.  She was still breathing. She shouldn't be breathing.

"Jessa. Calm down. I'm here now. It will be ok." Dad whispered in my ear as he wrapped his large body around me.

My body was shaking as my sobs cut through the now silent room. I sunk into my Dad's comforting arms and fought with my head to pull myself back into my body.  There was deep burning pressure building in my chest. It felt like I was being crushed to death as I started to come back down. 

"Ezra, baby?" Jenna leaned up on her elbows with her mouth hanging open as she gaped at him.  Her face was covered with blood and was already starting to swell and bruise. She blinked rapidly, trying to open her puffy eyes like she didn't believe he was there. She wiped her tears as they began to pour from her face. 

"Go to the car. Your mom is out there waiting for you. You did good, Jessa, but it is now my turn to handle this." My dad instructed as he finally let me go. His body was vibrating with hatred as he stared angrily down at her.

"Ezra, baby.  I knew you would come back to me."  Jenna climbed to her feet and ran across the room.  I went to go back after her and Dad pulled me behind him.  He moved me out of the way just in time for her to crash her body against him.  She smashed her lips against his mouth and ran her hands over his face desperately. If I wasn't so angry, I would have felt a little bad for her.  She clearly was infatuated with him to the point it drove her to madness.

He tensed up and pushed her back. She fell back on her ass and was up on her knees, crawling over to try to wrap her arm around his legs.  He kicked her off him and she cowered back to a kneeling position right in front of him.

"Ezra, baby, it's been so long. I love you so much.  Now we can be together again just like we used to.  We are going to be so happy together. I can't wait for us to get married now. I still have my dress. It's the one you picked out." She squealed as she looked up at him excitedly. Her grip on reality was gone. She was still stuck in her head as the twenty-something-year-old girl who loved a man who could never love her back.

Why was I starting to feel sorry for her after everything she did?

"Do you really think I would want to be with you after the things you have put my family through? You are a fucking psycho. You tried to kill the woman I love and now you are coming after my daughter. You're lucky I haven't snapped your neck for even being in the same room with her."

"I did it all for you, baby. I did everything for you so we can be together again like we used to." She began crying to him. Her hands were clutching the bottom of his shirt as she tried to rub her face against his thighs.

"You changed my daughter's meds and stalked her.  You tried to set her up to get assaulted just like you had your friends do to my wife. You lied to her about everything to make her think she was going crazy." He growled.

Wait. What? Holy shit. She did all that? 

I lost the tiny ounce of sympathy I had for her right then.  She had been slowly breaking off pieces of me bit by bit until there was so little of me left that I couldn't even recognize myself. She did this to me. For once, I wasn't the reason my life was falling apart around me. 

"How do you know about that?" Jenna jumped back, stunned. She stood up and started looking around the room at all the confused eyes staring at her.  The group leader's mouth was hanging open, catching flies. He cleared his throat like he wanted to say something, but he snapped his mouth shut when my dad shot him a menacing look. Jenna's dark eyes found their way back to my dad's light blue ones. A wicked little half-smile spread over his face. He was ready to end this. I had seen him angry before, but he was just downright terrifying right now.

"Unlike you, Jessa has a man who loves her more than life itself.  That man is pretty well connected.  After he found out about the lie you told Jessa about him, he started to get suspicious about your intentions. That is the exact moment you fucked up. He sent the bottles we found in her room off to the lab to be tested. He had phone records pulled from the messages back and forth with Celian Meyers. Guess what, Jenna? An hour ago, it was confirmed. Your DNA, fingerprints, and phone number were found all over everything. It was too easy. With your record, everything we needed was already in the system. You were stupid enough to leave enough evidence behind and a judge was more than willing to sign a warrant for your arrest with your history."

"You wouldn't do that to me." Her face was wild with disbelief.

"Oh, we did.  Cameron is on his way over here right now with a few of his friends.  You're going back to jail, Jenna.  You're never going to get out this time."  Dad laughed victoriously.

"You can't prove anything." She defended herself shakily.

"We already have. It's done and over with. You better be scared, Jenna. It's not just me you have to worry about this time.  You pissed off the wrong cop when you fucked with his girlfriend."

She looked at my Dad longingly one last time before she booked out of the room.  He began running after her and I was right behind him on his heels. I quickly ran past him.  His legs were longer, but I had always been faster.

She threw open the doors to the building and I could hear the sirens off in the distance heading towards us.  She was still at least fifty feet ahead of me and moving fast. 

Why are insane people so damn hard to catch?

Jenna ran out into the street and narrowly missed getting flattened by a car. She dove out of the way as the driver blared on the horn at her. Her hands pounded the hood of the car before turning on her heels to disappear into an alley between two buildings. 

I ran out into the street after her without even checking to see if it was clear. Tires were squealing against the pavement as drivers had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting me. Before I could get to the alleyway, my path was blocked by two police cars. Cameron jumped out of the passenger side of the one closest to me before it even came to a complete stop.

He had his hands around my waist, pulling me back.

"Jess, go back to your dad. Now." He commanded.

"In the alley." Dad hollered at him from across the street.

"Go now." Cameron kissed my head and let me go. He didn't even hesitate to follow her. He took off at full speed to chase her down.  Ron was about ten seconds behind him. 

I felt small arms wrap around me from behind. They pulled me out of the street and back onto the sidewalk where it was safe. I spun just in time to see Mom squeezing me.  I wrapped myself around her as she cried into my shoulder.  Dad stepped behind us protectively to surround both of us. His eyes never left the alleyway.  I knew it was killing him that he couldn't help Cameron because I was feeling the same exact way.

We waited on the sidewalk huddled together for what felt like hours for Cam and Ron to come back. Each minute was more torturous than the last.

Cameron emerged from the alley holding his sides and out of breath. Ron was behind him and bent down, looking like he was ready to vomit. 

Oh no. 

Jenna was not with them.

Cameron's stressed gray eyes locked on mine and he shook his head. He mouthed, "I'm sorry, darling," with a hardened frown on his face. I knew what it meant. He didn't even need to say anything else.

Jenna was still out there, which meant she was a danger to my family. 

None of us were safe anymore.